Tuesday afternoon (January 29), the CMA hosted its annual songwriters luncheon, recognizing the tunesmiths in town who have achieved great success throughout the past 12 months by having penned three No. 1 songs.

The CMA Triple Play Awards was handed out to a several songwriters who were on hand, including Dierks Bentley (“Am I The Only One,” “Home,” “5-1-5-0”), Rodney Clawson (“Drink On It,” “Drunk On You,” “Take A Little Ride”), Brantley Gilbert (“Dirt Road Anthem,” “Country Must Be Country Wide” “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do”), Ben Hayslip (“Honey Bee,” “I Don’t Want This Night To End,” “I’m Gonna Love You Through It”), Josh Kear (“Dancin’ Away With My Heart,” “Drunk On You,” “Blown Away”), Shane McAnally (“Alone With You,” “Come Over,” “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye”), Eric Paslay (“Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” “Angel Eyes”), Neil Thrasher (“Tattoos On This Town,” “Banjo,” “Fly Over States”) and Chris Young (“Voices,” “Tomorrow,” “You”).

“I'm so grateful to be a part of the Nashville family,” says Paslay. “One of my biggest dreams was to have a song on country radio. Getting a No. 1 was sugar on top. Being honored by the CMA with a Triple Play Award has made 2012 the sweetest year of my life so far!” 

“Considering my love for country music and my lifelong dream to have songs on the radio, I am blown away by the idea that I would have a No. 1 at all, much less three in one year,” adds McAnally. 

Also picking up the prestigious honors were a few artists not in attendance: Eric Church (“Drink In My Hand,” “Springsteen,” “Creepin’”) and Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley (“Just A Kiss,” “We Owned The Night,” “Dancin’ Away With My Heart”).